Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The Competition

So, you're a bookshop in one of the most prominent positions tourist-wise in the capital just by the big wheely thing on the river. What do you put in your windows? What sort of books do you think might entice passing visitors to pop in for a lovely momento of their stay? What do you think would be eye-catching, jump out and scream, 'Shop Here!'?

Answer: A 3 for 2 promotion of re-jacketed, retro, paperback Penguins in one of your huge windows. A 3 for 2 promotion of 'reading around the world' paperbacks in another of your big windows. And a big pile of the Lauren Child illustrated Pippi Longstocking in the third of your big windows. (And 1 copy of The London Eye Mystery)

Now, the re-jacketed Penguins are very handsome and the reading the world promotion is very interesting and the Pippi Longstocking is gonna be huge this christmas BUT, In The Windows! By The Big Wheely Thing! Are You Mad! C'mon People, This Ain't Rocket Science!

1 comment:

Crikey what a patronising post. Are you guys feeling a little out of sorts of late? If you're not having a pop at other retailers you're having a crack at the apparent 'stupidity' of the customers. Perhaps you're not aware that bookshops can feel quite daunting places for those who don't visit regularly (re: 'Do you have any victorian literature?'). What scoffing snobbery would you come up with as I exit your shop?As for the time when when you stop being referred to as a former Waterstone's employee, I worked there myself for a number of years and think it gave me a great platform to begin a publishing career. Maybe if you buried your sour grapes and jibes then people would forget about it.